Until comparatively recently there (0) (be) no firm evidence for the existence of giant sea monsters. however, tales of such creatures (13) (be) common for many centuries, inspiring fear and fascination among sailors. towards the end of the nineteenth century, a number of dead giant squid (14) (wash) up on the shores of newfoundland, which (15) (force) scientists to rethink their opinion. however, all their attempts to capture a live specimen (16) (end) in failure. then, in 2004 two japanese researchers (17) (be) successful in taking the first ever photos of a giant squid in its natural habitat. they were astonished by what they (18) (see). up until that point, the scientists (19) (think) that squids rarely (20) (move) and simply (21) (eat) whatever drifted by, but the photos (22) (reveal) that they (23) (misunderstand) the nature of these enormous creatures. taken at a depth of 900 meters off japan’s ogasawara islands, the pictures show the squid aggressively attacking bait on a line. now marine scientists worldwide (24) (be) eager to discover more about the nature and behaviour of giant squid